The present invention relates to the packaging and handling of hollow needles for hypodermic syringes and the like, and, more particularly, to a finger guard for preventing inadvertent and accidental needle sticks.
Hypodermic needles of the type used with an evacuated tube type collection device for obtaining samples of body fluids, particularly blood, are generally supplied in a tripart assembly consisting of a double pointed needle member sealed within two end caps. In use, first one end cap is removed and the exposed needle, usually sheathed in a pierceable self-sealing elastomeric sheath, is assembled to a tube-receiving cylinder. Next, the second needle is uncovered by removing its end cap, usually only about 1/4" to 5/16" in diameter, and the exposed needle is inserted in the patient transdermally. The major problem arises after the patient piercing needle is removed from the patient contaminated with body fluid, often carrying contagious disease factors. Accidental needle pricks of the medical attendant in the process of restoring the cap over the needle are not uncommon. Heretofore, various attempts have been made to provide protection to the medical personnel, and the following patents are believed to be illustrative of the state of the prior art.
U.S Pat. No. 4,139,009 discloses a hypodermic needle assembly with a retractable needle cover. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,975 a protective shield resembling an umbrella is provided at the neck of a needle container and is supplied folded down against the body of the container held in place by an enveloping cylindrical holder, the "umbrella" erecting when the holder is removed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,034 provides funnel shaped guards formed integrally at the end of the needle cap, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,412 provides a finger guard in the form of a funnel which is formed separate from but engageable about a needle cap. U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,697 discloses another form of removable shield wherein a dual funnel-shape shield is provided for both needle caps of a double needle assembly Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,841 provides an assembly with a sleeve that is slidable along a needle which has been provided with a collar attached to the needle at a longitudinally intermediate location which collar, when the sleeve is urged toward the tip end of the needle, engages the sleeve and locks it in a forward needle point guarding position.
The existing constructions that are exemplified by the above-mentioned patents all have one or another disadvantage or draw-back. Where the guard is formed integrally with the cap, whether in folded condition as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,975, or in stiffly erected form as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,034, the resultant increase in the size of the cap, its bulk, is an undesireable factor. Packaging is enlarged and dispensary storage space requirements are increased. On the other hand, where the guard is a separate item that must be placed over the cap, there is the draw-back that, when personnel are rushed or due to the very nature of the individual involved, the guard will not be used.